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Intensive grazing system adopted
by Not
Specified
Categories: Livestock;Farm Management;
Publication: Country-Wide Southern;
Date: 2006-10-16
They run
the
stock in large mobs, grazing areas hard for a short time before giving
the
plants adequate time to recover.
Phil
describes
it as being similar to a technosystem but without the fences.
They
follow a
paddock-by-paddock grazing plan that is drawn up every three or four
months and
is always based on the worst-case scenario. It can be adjusted
according to the
season.
“We just
need
to make sure we are not overgrazing anything.”
Viv says
since
following this regime she has noticed grass growth is more vigorous,
and there
has been a big decrease in the number of thistles on the farm.
Another
advantage of this types of grazing management is the reduction in costs
due to
not cultivating paddocks.
They have
however grown 12ha of linseed for the first time this year. It is a
high value
cash crop to be used for organic linseed oil, also known as flaxseed
oil. This
crop will be established in the conventional way.
As they
worked
to restore the health of their soils and pastures, they have pulled
back ewe
numbers from 2100 to 1700 and have begun using rams bred primarily for
low
input farming systems by East Otago farmers Allan and Sonia Richardson.
The Avalon
composite ram are dual purpose ram, being half Perendale, one quarter
Wiltshire
and one quarter Texel.
For 19
years
the Richardsons have been breeding towards a multi-disease resistant
sheep that
can perform in the toughest environments.
The Grays
cull
any ewes that can’t cope in an organic system. As well as the ewes, the
farm
winters 350 ewe hoggets, 65 rising one-year-old mixed-age calves and 46
breeding cows, 18 of which are nurse cows for the dairy calves the
couple buy
in every year.
The ewes
go to
the ram on a rising plane of nutrition in April for lambing in
September.
Over
winter
the ewes and hoggets are run as one big mob and rotated around the
farm.
Pasture is supplemented with hay when required, which was most days
this
winter.
The ewes
are
set stocked for lambing, but mobbed up after tailing into mobs of
around 500
ewes and lambs and put on the spring rotation.
They aim
to
have the first of their organic lambs sold at a minimum of 13.3kg CW by
December.
While the
EU
market allows one chemical drench, any lambs that require subsequent
drenches
are marked and sold as stores on the conventional market.
Last
season
they were caught out with some poorer quality lambs that they struggled
to finish
for the organic market. These lambs were eventually sold as stores but
provided
a valuable lesson for the couple.
Phil
estimates
that hanging on to them cost them significant amounts of money, so in
future
any poorer lambs will be sold as stores much earlier in the season.
“It is
about
being proactive and realising that not all the lambs are going to make
it.”
In the
future
they are hoping to source organic finishers to sell their lambs to,
retaining
the organic premium through the system.
Lessons
such
as this are all part of the learning process for the Grays as they
completely
change the way they farm.
“It just
takes
time and we have to realise it takes time.
“I’m quite
happy with it now, but two years ago it was frustrating and I wondered
what the
hell we were doing.”
As the
Avalon
genetics begin to impact on the ewe flock, Phil and Viv expect not only
an
increase in productivity, but animal health issues such as worm burdens
and
dags to become less of an problem.
While the
move
to organics has significantly reduced animal health costs, this has
been
partially off-set by an increase in shearing costs.
Lice is
the
one animal health issue they have to live with to a degree, they have
moved to
six monthly (July and January) shearing to help control the problem as
well as
for ease of management.
Hoggets
were
mated this year, but the practice will be assessed on a year-to-year
basis
according to their body condition going into mating.
While Phil
and
Viv have dropped ewe numbers they have worked to lift cattle numbers
over the
past two years.
The cattle
help to clean up pastures as well as control worm burdens on the
pastures; they
are also much easier to farm organically.
The beef
crossbreeding cows are all mated to a Murray Grey and 18 of the cows
are used
as nursery cows for the beef cross bobby calves bought in each year.
Like the
lambs, the EU organic beef market allows one chemical drench but the US
market
is much stricter and requires the calves to have been born on the farm.
This
obviously
precludes their bought-in dairy calves, so these calves are all clearly
tagged
and recorded.
They have
also
been buying in some trading cattle. These are yearling bulls that are
bought in
autumn and finished in late spring.
As another
arm
to their business, the Grays have been working to establish a local
market for
their organic beef.
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